Archive for May 2015

The Center for Court Innovation (CCI) is seeking courts to participate in an assessment of each court’s procedural-fairness practices. CCI is accepting applications until June 12 from local courts with the jurisdiction to hear criminal cases.

The official Request for Proposals gives full details on the project, but CCI says that it hopes to advance procedural-justice goals “by (1) highlighting promising practices for the field at large, (2) helping jurisdictions identify problem areas, and (3) outlining short- and longer-term plans to implement appropriate interventions.”

CCI suggests that this project “is targeted to criminal courts interested in deepening their understanding of procedural justice and examining whether and how their current practice promotes the core elements of procedural justice: voice, respect, understanding, and neutrality.” The selected sites will gain the feedback of outsiders who are familiar with the background research in this area.

The project will focus on four key areas at each site:

· Providing information about court procedures to court users and to the community;

· Fostering a user-friendly courthouse environment;

· Developing mechanisms to solicit and respond to feedback from staff and court users; and

· Improving the communication strategies used by judges and other court staff.

Project staff will provide suggestions for improving practices in each court.